Children's products often have components that are mounted to axles. For example, children's ride-on vehicles, which are vehicles that are sized and designed for use by children sitting on the seats of the vehicles, frequently include components that are mounted on axles. Children's ride-on vehicles may be electrically powered with motors, or they may be child-powered (i.e., manually powered), such as with pedals or simply by the child pushing against the ground with his/her feet. Due to the size of typical children's ride-on vehicles, they often are sold in a partially assembled state, and a parent or other individual performs final assembly of various parts after purchase of the ride-on vehicle. Illustrative, non-exclusive examples of components that may be required to be installed on a children's ride-on vehicle by a user include wheels, steering wheels, steering linkages, and/or pedals. These examples all require attaching a structure (e.g., wheel, steering wheel, steering linkage, pedal) to an axle, rod, or similar mounting shaft or projection.
Using the wheel example, one prior art system for securing a wheel to an axle includes utilizing a threaded axle and nut. The axle is inserted into, and in many instances through, the wheel, and a nut is secured to the axle, thereby retaining the wheel in position on the axle. However, threaded and/or other specially machined or shaped axles are comparatively expensive to manufacture and may be more prone to damage than a non-threaded or other more simple axle. Accordingly, non-threaded axles (i.e., essentially cylindrical rods) and non-threaded fasteners may be used, such as a Pushnut® fastener, which is a branded fastener sold by Palnut, and referred to herein as a Pushnut-style fastener 2. An example of a Pushnut-style fastener 2 is illustrated in FIG. 1. The Pushnut-style fastener is pushed or otherwise forced over (i.e., around) the end region of a rod, axle, or stud (depending on the application), and internally facing flanges 4 of the Pushnut-style fastener bite into or otherwise firmly engage the rod, preventing (or at least restricting) removal of the Pushnut-style fastener from the rod. Described in other terms, the end region of the rod, axle, stud, etc. is inserted at least partially through the fastener's central aperture, with flanges of the fastener engaging the end region to resist separation of the fastener from the rod.
To facilitate installation, a Pushnut-style fastener may be housed in a cap, or housing, 6 so that a user may use a hammer to operatively push/force/hammer the fastener onto the end of the rod. An example of this type of assembly may be referred to as a cap nut 8 and is shown in FIG. 2, with the actual Pushnut-style fastener 2 being positioned within the opening of the cap 6, as seen in FIG. 3. As shown, the fastener 2 and axle 3 are axially aligned, with the fastener defining a plane 7 that extends perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 9 of the end region of the axle that is inserted through the fastener's central aperture.
A challenge with Pushnut-style fasteners and cap nuts is that parents or other users may hammer or otherwise force them onto an axle in a crooked or other inclined configuration instead of the desired configuration of FIG. 3. Improper installation of Pushnut-style fasteners and cap nuts may reduce the strength of the engagement between the fastener/cap nut and the axle, which in turn may permit the fastener or cap nut to separate from the axle during use of the children's ride-on vehicle or other product. Additionally or alternatively, improper installation of a Pushnut-style fastener and/or cap nut may damage the fastener or cap nut, and in many embodiments, an improperly installed fastener or cap nut cannot be readily removed and reinstalled. The present disclosure is directed to improved axle mounting assemblies for securing cap nuts and related fasteners to axles and other shafts of products, such as children's products and/or children's ride-on vehicles.